Bengaluru: Kannada actress, Harshika Poonacha, on Friday shared a disturbing incident where she and her family were allegedly attacked by a group of people in Bengaluru’s Frazer Town for speaking Kannada. Members of the group even tried to snatch a gold chain from her husband Bhuvann Ponnannaa, she said in a social media post.
The actress shared a video of the incident on social media and questioned how safe residents are in Bengaluru.
The incident happened, a couple of days ago in a restaurant called “Karama” on Mosque road, Pulikeshi Nagar near Frazer town in the city, she said.
In her post, she narrated the incident, said that two men suddenly appeared near their car’s driver seat window and started arguing that the vehicle is very big and that it could touch them if it moved suddenly.
“My husband ignored it by saying “innu move maadilwalla side bidi” (we haven’t moved at all right, please move aside now). He moved the vehicle ahead a little, by then these two men started abusing him and my family in their language saying these Kannada people should be taught a lesson and even tried to hit him on the face,” She wrote.
A crowd of 20 to 30 people gathered around their car within two to three minutes of this and two of them tried to snatch Bhuvann Ponnannaa’s gold chain, she wrote. “My husband realised this on time and quickly held on to it and gave it to me,” She posted.
Getting frustrated, the gang started damaging their vehicle and also tried to physically abuse them, she said.
“Also these guys had a problem that we were talking in Kannada. They were like your coming to our area and stop talking in languages you want. “Yeh local kannad wala hey” (these guys are local Kannada people). It agitated them more when my hubby and me spoke only in Kannada. They said keep your ”Kannada style” to yourself. Most of them spoke either Hindi , Urdu and a few in broken Kannada,” She added.
Poonacha then reached out to an inspector she knew, leading to the gang swiftly disappearing. Despite seeking assistance from an ASI at a nearby police station, her efforts were futile as he seemed disinterested in helping. Instead, he prioritized his own desires, opting to continue enjoying his drink rather than address the situation.
Feeling frightened by the incident in her hometown, Poonacha questioned the safety of living there. She expressed dismay at facing abuse for speaking her native language, Kannada, and pondered the security of citizens in their own city.
The actress urged CM Siddaramaiah and the Karnataka State Police Department to investigate and take necessary action. Her social media post gained significant attention, amassing over 14,000 views so far.
How SAFE are we locals in Namma Bengaluru ????
Dear all, after a lot of thought ive decided to share a horrifying experience i had in Namma Bengaluru a couple of days ago. I initially thought i would let go of it after talking to my friends pic.twitter.com/kiF7z7C0yV— Harshika Poonacha (@actressharshika) April 19, 2024
